Navigating the Blogosphere

Okay, what is a blog you ask?

A blog, or weblog, is a special kind of website. The main page of each blog consists of entries or posts arranged in reverse chronological order, meaning the newest is at the top.

Typically, each entry is just a chunk of text that sometimes includes links to other pages, audio clips, and even videos.

Usually, readers can also leave comments. (You can limit who can leave comments and what they can leave from your settings panel)

The verb to blog simply refers to the act of posting entries to a blog. However, the term blogosphere has come to mean the ENTIRE phenomenon of blogging - all the blogs, all the links between the blogs, as well as all the topics being written about blogs.

BLOG was Merrian Webster's Word of the Year for 2004. This title is given to the one word searched for the most on their website. Here's the definition:

• Blog: noun [short for weblog] (1999) : A web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.

So, you may be wondering what blogs are for, hmm? Most people use blogging essentially as online diaries or journals. Simply a place to post musings and record day-to-day happenings, perhaps to keep friends and family up to date.

However, many bloggers focus on online developments rather than personal ones. Their blogs consist mainly of posts about -and links to- other websites, including other blogs.